Wes Wolfe
Efforts are on the move in the House to give Florida residents a jump on state park reservations.
Presently, the Florida state parks reservation system opens up 11 months out from any given day in the future. House Bill 109 gives Floridians an extra month, with availability beginning 12 months out.
A state resident who would like to take advantage of the month’s early access, should the bill pass, would have to confirm their status by providing a valid Florida driver’s license number or the identification number from a Florida ID card. The same ID would need to be shown at check in to the campsite.
Lakeland Republican Rep. Jennifer Canady testified in favor of the bill this week, which she said hits close to home because of her classes’ camping around the state.
“Camping reservations, especially for very high demand parks, are extremely difficult to obtain,” Canady said to the House Agriculture, Conservation and Resiliency Subcommittee.
“My interest in this is personal — I’m a teacher, and I’ve spent a lot of time with my students leading expeditions and camping in some really interesting locations. Camping gives Floridians common experiences with the beauty and the diversity of the ecosystems that make up our great state.”
It’s hard to care about something you’ve never seen, she said, which is why the bill is important.
“We have a problem with access,” Canady said. “This morning, I tried to reserve a site for the first weekend in the open period — a long weekend — from Thursday, Jan. 4, to Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, so we’re 11 months out.
“As of 7 a.m. today, there were 22 of our state parks entirely full, with no availability whatsoever, for 11 months out.”
The subcommittee unanimously reported the bill favorably.
“This is very important,” Islamorada Republican Rep. Jim Mooney said. “As Floridians, we do pay for those parks, and honestly I have a ton of friends down in South Florida in my district, their vacations are planned out and they are travelers. This bill has so much significance that it’s probably going to be lost because it seems so simple. This is a great bill for Floridians and the state of Florida.”
Senate Bill 76, the companion legislation, also reported favorably out of its first assigned committee.
3 comments
Amelia Kennedy
February 12, 2023 at 2:00 pm
Bill 76 will hurt tourism and RV campers from other states will start having to find other places to go. I think that the winter Floridians will not be able to stay in Florida and the state will lose tourism dollars that are critical.
Amelia Kennedy
February 12, 2023 at 2:01 pm
Bill 76 will hurt tourism and RV campers from other states will start having to find other places to go. I think that the winter Floridians will not be able to stay in Florida and the state will lose tourism dollars that are critical.
Harry Johnson
February 20, 2023 at 6:49 am
We’re from Wisconsin, we come to Florida every winter to enjoy the warmth and get out of the cold. We too have difficulties reserving state park campsites in Florida and in Wisconsin. When we are lucky enough to get a state park campsite in our home state we noticed that half of the residents in the are from Florida. I guess the cool nights are lower humidity is a nice break for Floridians. I suppose if Florida passes this bill, Wisconsin will probably do the same. In the future I can see all the states giving priority to the residents of their states. It would reduce the traffic and interstate commerce we see now. So I guess that’s a good thing.
Comments are closed.